Handgun users, and particularly Law Enforcement personnel who carry a handgun on a daily basis, carry the handgun in a holster. It is important that the holster provide for a safe quick draw of the handgun and that the handgun be secured in the holster until the authorized user purposely withdraws the handgun. The handgun must be secured so as not to inadvertently fall out of the holster and most importantly secured against being removed from the holster by an adversary.
Prior art describes various holster assemblies designed to address these issues. Prior art is shown in Bianchi U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,060; Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,890, Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,075, Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,317; Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,381; Nichols U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,281; Salandre U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,574; Marx U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,474; and Beletsky U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,620, The present invention is an improvement over these prior art holsters.
An improved holster assembly is accomplished by utilizing a trigger guard securing mechanism as described in the inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/382,113 with the further addition of secondary securing features and locking mechanisms that prevent the trigger guard securing mechanism from being released until a deliberate motion is completed by the user.
Improved surface characteristics are accomplished utilizing modern thermoplastic material and high-pressure injection molding techniques. The present invention is based upon the discovery that a holster assembly comprising inserts of reinforced thermoplastic material, with over-molded thermoplastic material which determines the characteristics of the outer surfaces of the holster, can produce an economical aesthetically pleasing holster. There are six Shore scales that are used to measure the hardness of synthetic materials. They are as follows: Shore A, Shore B, Shore C, Shore D, Shore DO and Shore OO. All of the scales range from 0-100, The most commonly used scales are Shore A and Shore D. There is no direct conversion between the different scales. An example of an approximate comparison would be (Shore A 50=Shore B 30-35=Shore C 20=Shore D 10-15). Another example of approximate comparison would be (Shore A 100=Shore B 85=Shore C 65=Shore D 45). The preferred material used for the insert has a hardness of approximately Shore D 70, When a thermoplastic elastomeric material with a Shore A durometer of 90 or below is used as the over-mold material, the selected holster parts are provided with a soft but durable surface which can be molded with unique and complex characteristics. The thermoplastic elastomeric material should not have a durometer hardness greater than Shore D50, Some synthetic materials have a durometer hardness that would be measured on the Shore A scale. Harder synthetic materials would be measured on the Shore D scale.
The elastomer thermoplastic material provides a completely different and arguably superior holster finish as compared to conventional holsters. The surface provides an aesthetically pleasing finish which can be made in many colors. While not intending to be so limited, the invention will be described in its application to a handgun holster. It will be understood that the basic teachings of the present invention can be applied to other types of holsters.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved handgun holster.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved holster with novel structure for securing the handgun from being withdrawn from the holster until the authorized user intends to do so.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved holster with novel structure for securing the handgun that requires a difficult and unnatural motion for anyone except the authorized user thereby minimizing the possibility of an unauthorized assailant withdrawing the handgun.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an improved holster with novel structure for securing the handgun that allows the authorized user to quickly and naturally withdraw the handgun in a safe manner.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved holster with novel structure for securing the handgun that allows for remote operation of the securing mechanism.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved holster with novel structure for securing the handgun that allows for positive identification of the user before the handgun can be withdrawn.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for unique soft to the touch thermoplastic elastomer surface characteristics on the holster.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a holster assembly with the above features which is also both strong and durable.